THE STRAND BLOG

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

I can't take it much longer. The Trump presidency has been exhausting and it's only a year since the inauguration.

The man who refers to Africa and Haiti has "sh*t-hole countries" has tried my last nerve.When I think back over the past decade, it does not surprise me that politics has become so grotesque. We had an appetizer of this here in Fort Erie during the Great War Over Bay Beach. Talk about grotesque.So,here we are in 2018 and there are community groups working hard to fund a park at the Bay Beach Properties now that the twelve story Martin Tower and the mayor who pushed for it are long gone. Good news after years of struggle and lies.Meanwhile, the mythical Canadian Motor Speedway has apparently fallen through its web of lies and misrepresentations. Good news that too.Jim Thibert's Dream Marina may be built, although it will be a much scaled-down version of the once Trumpian Hoooge development that threatened to cut a wide swath into the scenic Niagara Parkway.Geeze, will they ever get it right? As we watch precious wetlands and wildlife refuges fall to development, some wonder why coyotes and other wildlife are encroaching on residential areas. Hello? That's what happens when they're run out of their homes. Duh.Wouldn't it be nice if local politicians and those who hand out building permits would just stop long enough to research and talk to people in the area before they rubber stamp some well-connected developer's plans. Just think of all the trouble that would have been avoidedhad Martin listened to the people rather than his carpetbagger town planner regarding the Bay Beach Properties. But no, he didn't. Even when he almost lost his re-election by five votes (yeah, right) he didn't smarten up. Too far up the rears of developers to care what the people wanted - or didn't want. The Four Councillors, as they came to be known, are still involved in a lawsuit filed by the developer of the doomed twelve story tower at Bay Beach. The developer should really be suing the former town administration for misleading him into the mess. So, as I agonize over the mess in the US, my country of birth, I have to try to stay positive and remember that the fight to save Bay Beach has almost ended and the people are getting a park on the land fronting our only public beach in Crystal Beach. (I also have to snicker at those who were all in favour of the tower and who are now back-tracking on their support of it. Sometimes a little schadenfreude warms my heart.)